I'm Kona Love You Forever (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series Book 6) by JoAnn Bassett

his band of merry warriors were in hot pursuit. When they got to the end of the trail the king figured she must’ve taken refuge in one of the local homes. He ordered his men to set fire to the grass houses in an effort to smoke her out. Luckily for the residents, one of Kamehameha’s men spotted Ka’ahumanu’s little white dog on the other side of the bay and the arson was halted.
    The king and his men doubled back inland and approached the place of refuge from the land side. As the queen hid behind the rock, her dog began barking and gave her away. She emerged and the king was forced to pardon her. Even kings answer to someone—the gods. And the gods commanded that forgiveness must be extended to all who reached the pu’uhonua . Like all good stories, this one has a happy ending. Within a short time the two reconciled and Ka’ahumanu resumed her place as Kamehameha’s favorite wife.
    “So,” I said, “It seems no matter how heinous the crime, you got a do-over if you could just get here before you were caught.”
    “Yeah,” said Hatch. “Kind of like, ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’.”
    We drove back to the B & B for our last night on the Big Island. We had dinner at a tiny spot in the Kona Banyan Court called the Rapanui Island Café. Hatch had chicken curry and I had the mac nut crusted prawns. The place may be small but the portions were huge—and tasty.
    We slipped into bed early . Our flight wasn’t until late morning on Monday, since Hatch had traded shifts and didn’t need to be back to work until Tuesday. I suppose we could’ve spent our last night at a local watering hole, drinking mai tais and dancing, but nothing sounded as good as just being horizontal with the man I love. One more night of bliss. Then it was back to nagging slacker suppliers, cajoling demanding brides, and praying for clear weather.

     
    CHAPTER 14
     
    On Monday morning we were on the B & B lanai enjoying our second cup of Kona coffee when my cell phone chimed. I checked the caller ID. It was Lili Kapahu, probably checking on my progress with her birth certificate. I considered letting it go to voicemail, but at the last second I picked up.
    “ Aloha , Lili,” I said.
    A muffled noise, like someone gargling.
    “Lili? Can you hear me?”
    Again, the gargle.
    “Lili, I think we have a bad connection. I’ll call you back.” I’d started to click off when I heard her say, “Pali?”
    “Yes, that’s better. I can hear you now.”
    “She’s dead,” said Lili in a strangled voice.
    “Who’s dead?”
    Lili resumed the gargling sound. I turned to Hatch. “I’ve got a real bad feeling things are about to get complicated.”
     
    By the time I calmed Lili down enough to give me the who, what, and where of what’d happened, Hatch had gone inside and showered. He came back out to the lanai, all manly smelling with his wet hair slicked back. He wore a teal colored golf shirt. My favorite. 
    “Okay,” I said. “Here’s wha t I know so far: David’s mother, Malia, was found slumped over in her car this morning and she was pronounced DOA at the hospital.”
    “ Who’s David?”
    “Oh, sorry. David’s the groom in the teenager wedding I’m doing.” Up to that point I hadn’t filled Hatch in on the details of the wedding. We have an understanding: I listen to the high points of life at the fire station and he does the same for me with “Let’s Get Maui’d.” But we try to avoid boring each other with “shop talk” by skipping over the particulars. It makes for less yawning and furtive glances at our cell phones to check for incoming texts.
    “Do they have a C .O.D.?” Hatch is a paramedic so he’s prone to sliding into acronyms when anything medical comes up. It’s part of the culture.
    “Cause of death? I assume it was asphyxiation. I had a hard time getting much out of Lili, but she said when her future mother-in-law was found, her car was running and the garage door was down. I’m kind